


Sleepy Little Town

by F1_rabbit



Category: Formula 1 RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Always a Different Sex, F/F, Firefighters, Trans Character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-06
Updated: 2016-03-06
Packaged: 2018-05-24 23:49:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 13,443
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6171679
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/F1_rabbit/pseuds/F1_rabbit
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jo grew up in a sleepy little English town, where nothing much happened and escaping to university for four years seemed like a blessing, but now all her options are leading her home and she's not sure she's happy about it.</p><p>[fem!drivers]</p>
            </blockquote>





	Sleepy Little Town

**Author's Note:**

  * For [fasterthanthetardis](https://archiveofourown.org/users/fasterthanthetardis/gifts).



Jo had grown up in a sleepy little English town, the sort of place where nothing much happened and everyone was fine with that. Where the teenagers were bored and fled as soon as their university acceptance letter showed up.

She felt a little sorry for those who didn't get out, only seeing their friends in the holidays, while she enjoyed her four years of freedom. But fate had a quirky sense of humour, and here she was, saying goodbye to her friends at university. 

Of all the jobs she could have got, the odds of her getting one that meant she had to move back home were almost inevitable, since her dad had made it clear that there was always a job for her at PalmerTech, and none of the other jobs she'd applied to had hired her, so she'd been left with the choice of moving home with a job, or moving home and being unemployed. It was an easy decision.

Now, all that was left to do was to say goodbye to her girlfriend Cali.

*

"We can make this work." Cali cuddled into Jo, holding her tight. Just the warmth of Cali's body pressed against hers made everything feel okay.

Jo sniffed as the tears started to flow. "I'm going to miss you."

"I'm going to miss you too." Cali stood on her tiptoes and gave Jo a kiss, the taste of her tears were salty and she felt her eyes watering. She had assumed Jo would get a job in the city, somewhere nearby so that they could carry on living together. But it wasn't to be.

The smell of Cali's coconut shampoo filled her nostrils and Jo tried to remember every little thing about her, storing away all the little things, like how soft her lips were, and the noises that she made when they kissed.

Jo couldn't believe that she was so lucky as to meet Cali in her first year of uni. They'd signed up for the university's football team and they'd both made it into the first team. All that time spent training together, all those weekends away together, they'd got to know each other well and one night, after a few drinks, Jo had confessed her undying love for her, and Cali had admitted that she felt the same.

That was over three years ago, and their relationship had shown no sign of struggling. They were a perfect match, and that was why having to live apart for a while was going to be so painful, but Jo was sure that their relationship was strong enough to survive it.

Their last night together was spent tenderly making love, both aware that no matter how often they called each other or sent each other messages, it was going to be nothing compared to a hug, the feeling of skin on skin as their bodies rubbed together.

Jo would remember forever the sight of Cali, drenched in sweat, her chest heaving as she panted, the aftershocks of her orgasm leaving her limp and sated as she lay next to Jo, with the biggest smile on her face.

***

Dani had always loved books, she was the quiet one of the group, although everyone seemed quiet compared to Danielle. Even though she'd kept in touch with all her friends from high school, there was always going to be a special place in her heart for Danielle, just her smile made everything better and with coursework and finals, it had been nearly five months since Dani had seen her, actually seen her in person.

She was looking forward to being home and the first place she was heading to was Copycat Coffee, or CCs as everyone called it. It apparently got its name from the fact that there used to be another coffee shop in town, right across the street from it, although being such a small town, there was only one street with shops on, and that was the high street. What happened to the other coffee shop owner, no-one knows and Dani's parents used to tell her the story as though it was a ghost tale, when in reality Horsham was nowhere near big enough to have two coffee shops.

But it was one of the few interesting facts about the town, so everyone knew the story.

Danielle had worked there since high school, and she was really good at it, so as the rest of them had drifted away, she'd stayed. Although they'd all kept in touch, and every Christmas was the same in this town, everyone met in the town hall.

As she wandered into CCs her face lit up when she saw Danielle and Dani rushed over to the counter, barging past all the people waiting so that she could say hi. In a place as small as this they all knew each other and they would expect nothing less from Dani, after all these months away from her best friend.

Danielle put down her apron and came out from behind the counter, giving Dani the biggest of hugs, picking her up and swinging her around as the customers looked on with smiles on their faces.

"I've missed you so much."

"I've missed you too." Dani gave her a kiss on the cheek and she felt calm now that she was finally home. "But that's me home for good. I've got a job at the library, I start in two weeks."

Danielle scrambled back behind the counter, making all the orders as Dani told her all about her new job.

"At least we've got time to all hang out together before you start." Danielle's smile got even bigger and Dani couldn't help but grin in return.

"Jo's back, and Roberta, so the whole gang is back in town." She wasn't sure when the others were working but now that they were all home for good, they didn't have to worry about that as much.

***

Nicola had gone to college, part-time while working for Replicate, which was a printing place. She'd studied computing and now she managed their IT systems, as well as their website.

She'd been dating Esta for a year or so, but they hadn't told anyone. Nicola couldn't even say why, it was just hard getting everyone together.

Now that the old gang were going to be together, they could finally tell everyone, get it all out in the open and hopefully that would pave the way for her and Esta moving in together. Not that there weren't perks to living with her parents, like not having to pay rent, but it would be nice to have their own place.

She was going to ask Esta today. It was still going to take some planning, but Nicola wanted Esta to know that she was loved, and that she wanted a future for them.

*

Esta was convinced that the reason Nicola didn't want to tell everyone that they were dating was because she didn't want to admit that she was dating the quiet girl who worked for the town council. Among other reasons. She was sure that Nicola was ashamed of their relationship, but Esta didn't want a fight, so she didn't say anything.

She was sitting in CCs waiting for Nicola when she saw a familiar face stroll in, Dani, she must have finished uni. Dani headed straight for Danielle, smiling as she saw her friend. Just as she was about to get up and say hi, Nicola strolled in. The last thing Esta expected her to do was to kiss her, in public, but that was what she did, without a care in the world. Esta felt her heart flutter, in that moment she felt truly loved, and all her worries about Nicola being ashamed of their relationship disappeared.

"Hi honey. How was your day?" Nicola's smile alone, was enough to make even the worst day tolerable.

Esta blinked a few times before fidgeting with her glasses, and Nicola did the same as she stared at her with a big grin on her face. "Good. Better now that everyone's home."

"I've been thinking." Nicola paused so that Esta could get her usual joke in.

"Oooh, did it hurt?" Esta giggled and Nicola rolled her eyes with a dramatic flair, smile on her face.

"My parents gave me some money for my twenty-first, and we're both working… Maybe we could look for our own place, what with Marcia and Roberta getting their flat at such a good price."

"I have a little bit saved away too." Esta knew that she was lucky, as was Nicola, to have parents that were able to help them out, and it seemed common within their social group to get some money for their twenty-first birthday.

"It's going to be so good to finally have our own place." Nicola gave her a hug and Esta felt a stab of fear, there was something she hadn't considered.

"Can we wait? Just until all my ID is in my new name." Esta didn't want Nicola to think that she was backing out, but it would be nice to have a place with her name on it. Not that she was ever made to feel bad because of it, her parents, and all of her friends were nothing but supportive when she told them that she was trans, but finally having ID with her name on it would be a huge step. Esta was hoping it wouldn't be long, she'd sent away all the forms a few weeks ago, and now it was just a matter of waiting for it all to be processed.

"Of course." Nicola gave her another kiss, much more affectionate this time, and she heard the familiar cackle of Dani.

"So how long has this been going on?" Dani's smile was almost as big as Danielle's and she sat down at their table.

"Just over a year." Esta spoke very quietly, even though everyone in the coffee shop must have been able to figure out that they were in a relationship.

"I'm so happy for you two." Dani got up and hugged them both, her long bony arms squeezing them tight before giving them a kiss on the cheek.

"See what you missed while you were away." Danielle appeared with a coffee for Nicola, and one for herself, the apron was off so she must be on her break.

"You knew?" Nicola looked at Danielle suspiciously, but she just kept smiling.

"I suspected. The way you two look at each other, it would be a shame if you weren't a couple." Danielle's grin was turned up to maximum.

"I could say the same about you and Dani." Nicola smirked, but then she saw Dani blush and she knew that she'd crossed a line. "Sorry."

Dani gulped down her coffee, glad that it was a reasonable temperature for drinking before leaping out of her seat. "I should get going, my parents will be waiting for me."

Nicola mouthed the words 'I'm sorry' and Dani nodded, but it didn't stop her fleeing the coffee shop at an alarming rate.

"I'll check on her after my shift." Danielle went back to work, leaving Nicola and Esta in peace.

*

Dani was curled up in bed reading, when there was a knock on her bedroom door.

"Dani?"

"Yes mum?" She'd been lost in her book and she wasn't sure what her mum could want this late at night, not that ten was too late for her still to be up, but usually everything could wait for tomorrow by this point.

"Danielle's here, she's waiting for you in the living room."

Dani shot out of bed, throwing her dressing gown on around her nightie before padding downstairs in her fluffy rabbit slippers. It was nice to have the comforts of home around her again.

Danielle was sitting on the sofa, playing a game on her phone. "Nicola's sorry." She patted the sofa and Dani sat down next to her.

"I know. It just…" Dani was silenced by Danielle's lips on hers, so much softer than she could ever have imagined, her lip gloss tasted like sweeties, but she couldn't quite remember which one, maybe the white love hearts. Either way it was every bit as sweet as Danielle, and the kiss was so amazing that it took Dani's breath away.

"I can't believe we didn't do that sooner." Danielle's smile threatened to split her face in two, and the way her eyes scrunched up was adorable.

Dani didn't have the words to describe how happy she was, so she leant in for another kiss, letting the feelings take over as she melted into Danielle, soft gasps were the only noise the she made, as they made up for all the time apart.

***

Roberta and Marcia were high school sweethearts, and everyone, including their parents said that it wouldn't last, but they'd proved them all wrong. Even when Roberta left for uni, it wasn't long before she was back in Horsham doing placements in the local high school.

Roberta had always loved sports so she'd decided to share that love with the world, and become a PE teacher. Splitting her time between placements and uni, home and away, was difficult, but with Marcia to come back to, she managed to keep her head up, and focus on her course.

It was worth it in the end, as now she was getting the train home from uni for the last time, only an hour and a half's journey but it had added up over the years, although she usually slept or read a book. She was just glad to finally be home for good.

And this time she was coming home not to her parents' place, not that she didn't love them, but to her own place that she and Marcia were going to share. She was going to get the old gang together and they were going to decorate the place.

*

Roberta had seen their flat a couple of times, before they bought it, but now that it was theirs it felt warmer, more like home. It was now filled with old furniture that friends and family had given them, it was a wonderful mixture of new and antique, beige and bright. And Roberta loved it because Marcia was going to live here with her.

Marcia had ran to see her, clinging on to her as though she'd not seen her in months rather than hours. Her kisses still felt like the first kiss every time, sparks of pleasure flying through her body as their lips met.

"I can't believe this is ours." Marcia's smile was wonderful and Roberta was sure that she was grinning too.

"It's going to look amazing once we decorate. The girls are coming round soon to help." With the seven of them it would take no time at all to spruce the place up. It felt like everything in her life was coming together, and she had the summer holiday to make sure the place was perfect before she started full-time as a teacher.

"It's already amazing, because you're here." Marcia leant in for another kiss, leading Roberta to the bedroom. So far they'd only got a bed in there, but that was all that they needed.

***

Jo looked around her old bedroom, she couldn't believe that she was living with her parents again, but it was for the best, she was going to save her money so that she could visit Cali as often as possible.

She'd called all her high school friends to tell them that she was back in town and she'd been surprised to find out that all of them were now back in Horsham, or in the process of moving back for work. Although with graduate employment rates at an all-time low, she wasn't really surprised that so many of her friends were heading home. And some had never left.

It was strange that fate had decided that they were all going to be back together again, they'd kept in touch over the last four years but Jo was sure that they must have all changed, at least a little bit over that time.

Jo was flicking through all the photos of her friends, wondering what had brought them home, and if all of them were happy to be back.

***

There wasn't really room for everyone in Jo's bedroom, and there definitely wasn't space for them all on her single bed, but they were all crammed in there, desperate to catch up on all the gossip.

They were sprawled out on the bed, all tangled together as Jo showed them all her latest photos of Cali, not that they hadn't met her a few times in the past, but she was really missing Cali already. Although having her friends around was stopping her from moping too much.

"You'll see each other soon." Marcia held Jo's hand and Roberta put her hand over it, which ended with the others piling their hands in like they used to when they played football in high school.

"Thanks girls." Jo giggled and put her phone away, she'd phone Cali later and see how she was getting on. Cali was starting her new job straight away, so tomorrow would be her first day working for a big newspaper. She had done some of her placements at _The Reporter_ who were known for their hard hitting investigative journalism, and now she was going to be one of their full-time journalists, even though she was sure that she'd probably only get little stories to start with. But the way Cali talked about it, with so much enthusiasm and passion was the reason that Jo loved her.

"When do you start?" Esta asked, fidgeting with her hair as Nicola started to pleat it.

"The first, at least I get a bit of a holiday first." Jo hadn't got to pick the date that she started, although she was sure that dad had worked it out so that she got a couple of weeks off.

"Daddy looking out for you again," Danielle said, and Jo nudged her with her foot, almost pushing her off the bed. Dani held Danielle tight and tickled her as punishment.

"Hey! Dad got you the job at CCs, since he's friends with Martin."

"What?" Danielle's smile got a little smaller and she tilted her head in confusion.

"I thought you knew. Martin owed dad a favour, and he used it to get you the job." Jo hadn't meant to make Danielle feel bad. "You know if any of you wanted a job with him, he'd do that for you."

Dani nodded, it was no secret that Jo's dad treated them like his own, ever since they were little, and their parents were all friends. It was no surprise that they were all still close, they were like family to each other and she wouldn't change it for the world.

Marcia could feel the mood changing, and she wasn't going to let their reunion be soured by this. "We're all back together, that's all that matters. We're going to have a good night."

"Will's cooking dinner…" Jo watched as everyone laughed, nervously, although since she'd left for uni mum had been making Will cook, which seemed fair, one day he would have to cook for himself. However, Jo wasn't entirely sure that she trusted him to cook for ten people, not yet anyway.

"Changing the subject, a little birdie told me that you and Esta are dating." Roberta smiled at Nicola and Esta, and everyone piled in for a hug, a flurry of limbs and congratulations.

Once all the details about their relationship had been told, and everyone had complemented them on how good they were together, the room was quiet again and Jo was about to suggest that they watch a movie when Danielle blurted out, "Dani and I are dating."

"What? When?" Esta blurted out, she'd seen them only yesterday and there was no sign that they were dating then.

"Last night, what you said, Nicola. It all made sense." Danielle held Dani's hand and she blushed, but she looked so proud of herself, although Jo couldn't imagine it any other way. Those two were always close, and the idea of them being a couple just worked, same for Nicola and Esta. Even though they were all good friends, Nicola was always the one that Esta turned to first, she was the first one that she talked to when she was dealing with the idea that she might be trans, and Nicola had stood by her the whole time. They all had. In high school Esta was always quiet, but after she came out, it was like the clouds hanging over her head had disappeared.

Jo looked at all her friends, she was so proud of them all, glad that they were all happy, and even the fact that Cali was far away couldn't dampen her mood.

"Dinner's ready!" Will's voice echoed through the house and although they'd laughed about him cooking earlier, there was a smell of herbs and cheese floating through the air, almost like pizza but not quite.

Fitting everyone in around the table was a bit of a squeeze but it was worth it when Will brought out the giant lasagne, followed by a mixing bowl filled with salad and a tray piled high with garlic bread.

Nicola's eyes lit up at the sight of all the food, and Jo could see everyone smile, Nicola could always eat, and she never seemed to put on weight, although she cycled everywhere and ran for fun, so that was probably a large factor.

Once the food was dished up and everyone had tucked in, the conversation started flowing.

"How's work?" Dr Palmer asked, to no-one in particular.

"Good, we've just finished the run for the high school yearbooks." Nicola stuffed another piece of garlic bread into her mouth as Esta smiled at her.

"And how are the plans for the new sports centre coming?" Dr Palmer asked Esta, given that nothing much happened around here, the building of a new sports centre was the most exciting thing going on in the town right now, it was even going to have a swimming pool, which would be nice, and save a lot of travelling.

It was late by the time they finished dinner, it had been so long since they had all been together, Christmas would have been the last time. There were lots of congratulations for finishing their courses and everyone had sufficiently praised Will for getting into med school, he was set to follow in his father's footsteps.

There were hugs all round as the girls filed out into the warm evening, the sun still hanging on even though it would be time for it to rise again soon, leaving Jo alone in the hallway.

"I'm going to call Cali," Jo said, and Will shouted back something about her just not wanting to do the dishes, which was partly true.

*

"Hi."

"Hi." Not even forty-eight hours apart and Jo was already at a loss for words just from the sound of Cali's voice.

"Are you having fun at home?"

"Yes. All the girls came round for dinner and Will cooked."

Cali laughed, her beautiful deep laugh that resonated deep in Jo's soul. "No longer glued to his video games then?"

"No, he's already Dr Palmer version two in his head." Jo sniggered, she did love her brother, but it seemed like only yesterday that he was an awkward little boy, who was up at strange hours killing zombies or driving fast cars from the comfort of the living room. The first time Cali had met him she'd barely got more than a grunt from him for the entire weekend that she spent at the house, but thankfully he'd grown out of that.

"That's good."

Jo could hear Cali fidgeting with her hair, twisting it around her fingers. She missed seeing all the little things that she did, each one of her adorable traits sent Jo's heart racing. "Are you ready for work tomorrow?"

"All packed and ready to go, I'm so excited."

"I wish I was there." Jo tried not to sigh, it was no-one's fault that things had worked out this way, and she knew that her fussing over Cali wouldn't go down well.

"I'm going to be so busy at work these first few weeks, getting myself established, that even if you were here I would barely see you."

"I'll be thinking of you." Jo picked up the teddy bear off her bed, she'd had it since she was born, a gift from a family friend, although she couldn't remember who, and held it tight.

"I'll call you tomorrow night with all the details. I love you."

"I love you too." Jo fell asleep holding her teddy and wishing it was Cali, but she would manage without her, their relationship was based on so much more than just proximity.

***

Jo had ended up starting her new job a week early, she was bored around the house and it seemed like the best thing to do, although she spoke to Cali each night, that only occupied a fraction of her day. And the rest of the girls were busy with their lives, although she'd spent a lot of time hanging out with them all over the last few days. But even with working she'd still find time for all her friends, and her girlfriend.

She was expecting all the daddy's girl comments in the office, but they died down quickly. Jo was good at her job, and although she was sure that her dad must have pulled some strings to get her the job, she was going to prove to everyone that she deserved it on merit.

Even with the little niggles, it was a nice job and steady hours, so she could put up with the rest of the hassle just for that. But best of all, Cali was going to come and visit this weekend, and they were going to help Marcia and Roberta decorate their new flat, so at least she had something to look forward to.

*

She'd not been in for long, but Jo had already got out of her work clothes and changed into jeans and a jumper, making herself comfy before calling Cali. Cup of tea in hand she retreated to her bedroom.

The bubbly ringtone of Skype echoed around Jo's room and her heart raced as she waited for Cali to pick up.

"Hi." Jo stared at the image of Cali, smiling and happy, and she wished that she could be there to hug her.

"Hi. How's work going?" Cali blew her a kiss and Jo caught it, but as sweet as it was, it only made her miss Cali more.

"Okay, I'm in charge of all the purchasing for the hospital and the research labs. Which keeps me busy."

"It's nice that you're working for the family business."

Jo rolled her eyes, she was sure that it would be easier if she worked somewhere else, although being home, having her family and friends close, was really nice. If only Cali was here, then everything would have been perfect.

"How are you settling in at work?" Jo saw Cali's eyes light up and she knew that Cali must have lots of exciting stories to tell her.

"One of the women here, she went undercover with neo-nazis." Cali sounded so excited but the thought of that sent fear through Jo's heart.

"That sounds… Terrifying." Jo knew that it was what it took to uncover a lot of these stories, and she knew that was why Cali was going to be an amazing investigative journalist, she was fearless and brave, always in pursuit of the truth and trying to make the world a better place by exposing those who corrupt and oppress.

"It'll be a while before I get to do anything like that." Cali sounded almost disappointed, but Jo felt relieved, at least she wouldn't have to worry about Cali yet.

She told Jo all about the big stories that people had worked on at _The Reporter_ and Jo took it all in, happy just to hear Cali's voice, and glad that she was enjoying her new job.

"They need people to cover the protests this weekend and I said that I'd do it. I know I was meant to be coming to see you but…"

"It's okay. I know you love your job, and you want to make a good impression. We'll have plenty of weekends together." Jo hoped she didn't sound bitter, she didn't want to, she wanted to be the supportive girlfriend, but she'd been looking forward to having Cali come visit. "I love you."

"I love you too. Chat to you tomorrow. Sweet dreams."

The screen went blank as Cali ended the call and Jo finished her now cold cup of tea. It was fitting for the mood she was in, and she decided to go get a bath, relax before dinner.

***

The weekend rolled around quickly, which was a blessing and a curse for Jo, but luckily she didn't have a chance to miss Cali for long.

Marcia had made breakfast for everyone and they were all sitting round in their scruffiest clothes, preparing for a day of painting and decorating, as well as a little bit of DIY putting up shelves and fixing a few things around the flat that needed sorting.

Even though it had been less than forty-eight hours since they'd all seen each other, there seemed to be a lot of news to catch up on from the last two days.

"I got my new driver's licence in the post yesterday." Esta was beaming with pride as she showed everyone her licence, she had her long hair in the picture and next to it was her name – _Estella Anne Green_.

Esta had picked her name in honour of her Mexican grandmother who passed away when she was twelve, and her mum had been so happy at her choice, it was a wonderful way of honouring her heritage.

Jo was so proud of her, this was a big step for Esta and she could see how happy it had made her. It was lovely to start the day with such good news, and it had stopped her drowning in pity over the fact that Cali was working this weekend, rather than here with her.

Nicola gave her a kiss and it descended into a flurry of groping and moans. Jo was so happy for her friends, and when she looked around to see them all holding their girlfriends' hands, she was glad that everything had worked out for them, and although she wasn't seeing as much of Cali, Jo knew that she was lucky to have Cali in her life.

"Is anyone going to eat those?" Nicola asked, as she helped herself to the two pancakes still sitting on the table. They all laughed as Nicola fitted the pancake into her mouth in one, bits hanging out as she made noises like the cookie monster while she ate it.

When the food was all gone Nicola sat back and pushed her glasses up on her nose. Esta sniggered, fidgeting with her glasses subconsciously. They'd always mimicked each other, and now that they were a couple they were only going to do it more, but it was adorable.

"Right, who wants to paint and who wants to use the drill?" Marcia laughed and everyone looked at each other.

"I'll do it." Jo shrugged, she didn't mind either way.

"Good, we need someone tall to do it." Roberta wasn't exactly short but Jo knew she was tall compared to, well, pretty much everyone. She was sure that was part of the reason that she was still friends with Nicola and Dani, they'd also got tall in high school and the jokes were annoying to say the least. "Dani, you can hold the ladder."

Dani nodded and they all got to work. Marcia and Roberta made sure that everyone knew what they were doing, and in the case of Nicola, where all the snacks were.

Jo wasn't that high up on the ladder but having Dani holding it made her feel safer, the shelves were going up in the living room so that all the ornaments they had could be up high, keeping them safe and out of the way.

She'd drilled holes for most of the shelves and she was reaching to get the last one when she overbalanced, still holding the trigger on the drill as she fell backwards. Jo hit her head as she landed, and she felt a stab of pain in her left arm. Screaming and the sound of the drill faded as her vision went black and the last thing she heard was someone saying, "Call Dr Palmer."

Jo came round and Marcia was pressing a dish cloth over her arm, there were spots of blood leaking through it and she looked away, considering her dad was a doctor she wasn't great with blood.

"Your dad's on the way," Danielle said as she held Jo's other hand.

She tried to sit up but Marcia told her to stay where she was, she didn't want Jo to get dizzy or faint.

At times like this Jo was glad Marcia had first aid training as part of her job, being a firefighter she needed it. But the fact that her dad was on the way meant that she'd be getting those disappointed looks from him, although they were always born of the fact that she'd been badly injured in the past, and she knew that her dad couldn't bear the thought of her being hurt again.

Esta got her a glass of water and she sipped at it carefully, Jo hadn't realised that Dani was kneeling behind her supporting her head, which made it easier for her to drink.

By the time her dad showed up she felt okay, apart from the dull ache in her arm. He took over from Marcia, holding the dish cloth in place before quickly looking at the cut, and Jo looked away.

"What happened?" He dad didn't sound angry, not that she'd ever known him to shout or yell.

"Jo was on the ladder and she slipped, but the drill was still on. I pulled the plug but it had already cut her." Dani sounded on the brink of tears and Jo wanted to tell her it was okay, that it wasn't her fault but her dad beat her to it.

"You did the right thing," Dr Palmer said, and Jo felt Dani exhale, Danielle's grip on her hand also loosened and Jo took a deep breath. "It's all going to be okay sweetie."

Jo nodded, trying to be brave. "Sorry, dad." She could see the panic in his eyes, but it was just a scratch. It would leave a scar, but she had a fair few of those already.

"It's going to need stitches." Her dad gave her a kiss on the forehead before nodding to Marcia, she was used to blood. Roberta tried to get everyone else to move through to the kitchen but they all wanted to stay with Jo, so they all chatted away about the random things that had happened at work to take her mind off it until Dr Palmer had finished and was bandaging her arm. "You're going to have to rest. I'll take you home."

"Sorry girls." Jo pouted but it was more accurate than her joking let on, now that she was all fixed she felt silly for causing all this fuss, and for worrying her dad.

*

The drive home was short, and Jo was mostly zoned out, but her dad said something that caught her attention.

"I couldn't bear it if I lost you _again_."

Again?

***

Jo had woken up early, she'd thought about trying to go back to sleep but she was too restless and her arm was itchy. So, she crept downstairs, hoping that a cup of tea would help her relax, but as she tip-toed down the stairs she realised that the tv was playing quietly. She poked her head around the door and saw Will curled up on the sofa under a blanket, watching motor racing. It had never been her thing, but their dad was a big fan so she knew enough about it.

"Do you want a cup of tea?" Jo whispered, not sure if Will was awake or not. It wouldn't be the first or last time that he'd got up early for a race and fallen asleep half way through.

"I'd love one."

Jo went to make the tea and she could hear the commentator's voice babbling away in the background as she did it. Suddenly the voice got louder and she could hear every word.

"Wehrlein's crashed, and it looks like a bad one. Pushed off the track by Massa." The commentator's voice was filled with worry, and Jo stared at the screen. The car was completely wedged under the barrier and there was no sign of movement.

Jo rushed through with the two cups of tea to see Will on the edge of his seat, leaning forwards as he stared at the tv.

"What happened?" Jo handed Will a cup of tea and he took it without really focusing on it, letting a little bit slosh out.

"Wehrlein crashed, there's no radio to her car and it's going to take a while to get her out from under the barriers." Will couldn't take his eyes off the screen.

Jo didn't want to watch, and yet she found that she couldn't look away. Even though she didn't know the person, she had to see that they were okay.

Minutes dragged by, it felt like hours before they had finally freed the driver, and when they did, she was put on a stretcher and rushed away, no sign of life.

"Wehrlein's been airlifted to hospital, we're waiting on more updates." The commentator's voice was now sombre and Jo felt a chill run down her spine.

They sat in silence for the longest time and it wasn't until the presenters said that Wehrlein was stable in hospital that Jo was able to let out the breath that she felt like she'd been holding the entire time.

The atmosphere was so tense that Jo and Will jumped when their dad opened the door, their eyes darting round to see what the noise was.

"Mail on a Sunday?" Jo asked as her dad wandered through with a letter.

"Just junk. Someone stuck it through the door." Dr Palmer put the letter in his dressing gown pocket, and Jo thought no more about it. If Jo had looked out of the window when she heard the car driving away then it would have all made sense, but she didn't.

***

"How's Cali?" Will asked, he was munching on his toast, before heading to the hospital for the day to shadow dad.

"I haven't heard from her in a few days." Jo wanted to tell herself that Cali must be busy, that she'd call when she had time but a little bit of her mind couldn't stop wondering if she'd just got bored of her. If a long distance relationship wasn't her thing, or if she'd decided that she'd rather focus on her career than date. None of which reassured Jo.

"She'll just be busy. She'll call when she gets a chance."

Will was scrolling through his phone and he smiled as he read something. "Good news?"

"Wehrlein's fit to race this weekend, no serious injuries after her crash." Will handed her the phone and she stared at the picture with confusion. The hair was different, shorter, not braided, but the eyes and the smile were unmistakable. It was Cali.

*

Jo had excused herself from breakfast rather abruptly and started searching through the internet for all the information she could find on Pascaline Wehrlein, Formula One driver. The resemblance to her Cali was amazing, even if she wasn't sure that Cali was 'her Cali' anymore.

_Were they twins separated at birth? Was her Cali pretending to be a Formula One driver? What was going on? Why did none of it make sense?_

But it had to be a coincidence, the accent when Wehrlein spoke was clearly German, not the soft English accent that her Cali had, and the surnames were different, although if they were raised by different people, in different countries, that wouldn't be a surprise.

Jo told herself that it was just her mind making connections, wanting a link to her Cali no matter how ridiculous or absurd it seemed. She tried to put it out of her mind, but it didn't stop her bookmarking all the pages, just in case.

***

Jo was scratching at her scar, her arm had healed quickly, much quicker than her broken heart that was still causing her pain. She hadn't heard from Cali in three weeks, and now her phone was just going straight to voicemail. If it was anyone else Jo would be sure that they'd just had enough of her and didn't want a confrontation. But Cali wasn't like that, she didn't have a problem telling the truth, and she had no time for people who played games, which didn't reassure Jo at all. The only thing worse than thinking that Cali had broken up with her, was the thought that something awful had happened to Cali.

In the end Jo had phoned Cali's parents, since she knew them well enough, and asked if she was okay. Cali's mum had said she was fine, that she was just busy with work but there was a hint of worry in her voice that only made Jo more concerned.

But she didn't have long to worry about it, there was a knock on the door, and although Will went to answer it, just from the voices she could tell who was at the door.

Jo bounded down the stairs, still in her pyjamas as she ran up to the door. Six pairs of eyes stared back at her and she felt tears brimming up in her eyes. "What are you all doing here?"

"Your dad said you might need some cheering up." Marcia stepped in so that she could give Jo a hug and the rest of them piled in, leaving Will standing awkwardly by the door.

"I was going to make a cup of tea. Who wants one?" Will asked, as the girls all nodded, piling past him to get to the living room.

He reappeared with a tray, carefully balancing eight cups of tea, the girls all took their tea the same way, milk, two sugars, which made things a lot easier.

Even though their sofa was large, it was still a squeeze for the seven of them and Will sat on the chair, sipping at his tea as he read through one of his dad's old textbooks.

"Still no word from Cali?" Dani asked, as she held her hand. Jo wanted to tell them all of her suspicions, and everything that she'd found out about Pascaline Wehrlein, but it all sounded so crazy. Even the conversation with Cali's parents, although strange, wasn't enough to do anything. It would have to be Cali's parents that would report her missing, and since they were saying that she was fine, that wasn't going to happen.

It was looking increasingly like Jo had been dumped in favour of Cali's career, and in a way, she didn't blame her, but at the same time she was angry that Cali didn't even have the decency to say goodbye, she'd expected better from her. But if Cali was the sort of person that would do that, maybe Jo was better off without her.

"No." Jo tried to put a brave face on it, but it just wasn't to be and she sighed out loud. "How could Cali do this? Leave me without saying a word? Had she just been waiting for uni to end rather than having to actually break up with me?"

Jo felt a weight lift from her soul, just getting it all out had been therapeutic, and now, with her friends piled around her, she felt better than she had in a long time. She felt like she could leave Cali, and all the crazy theories, in the past, and get on with her life.

She was still so lucky to have so many friends who cared about her, and who would do this for her on a Saturday morning when they should all be having their lie-in, or in Marcia's case, sleeping after her night shift.

"Come on, put on some clothes and we'll go to CCs." Danielle patted Jo on the back, and the rest of them nodded, CCs did do the best brunch at the weekends, and caffeine and sugar sounded like the perfect pick me up.

*

"Do you ever think that it's strange that we all ended up in relationships with other women?" Danielle asked and everyone looked thoughtful, none of them had ever really thought about it before. They'd all been friends for longer than they'd known about relationships or sexuality, although they'd all been so lucky to have parents that accepted them for who they were, and friends who stood by them.

"But we're not all lesbians?" Dani looked around, she wasn't sure if she'd ever explicitly told anyone that she was bi, but she'd talked to them about people that she'd liked in the past, so surely they knew? "So it's just a fluke that we all ended up with other women."

There was silence as they all tried to remember who knew what, and finally Nicola spoke. "It's not a fluke for me." She had a wicked grin on her face and she raised an eyebrow before devouring an entire muffin in one bite.

"Or me," Esta said quietly, blushing as she glanced up at Nicola.

"Definitely not a fluke for me." Danielle's grin was set to maximum. "Ladies all the way for me."

Roberta laughed, her hair swaying as she chuckled. "Me too." She gave Marcia a kiss on the cheek and nuzzled against her.

Roberta knew that their little town was an abnormality, that anywhere else public displays of affection wouldn't be so openly tolerated, in fact no-one in CCs batted an eyelid at three same-sex couples cuddling and kissing as they ate brunch. A few people had come up to say hi, ask them about uni, and if they were home for good now. Others had asked them to pass on messages to their parents, but not one person had said anything about their relationships, or tutted, or rolled their eyes.

Jo was thinking something similar, her and Cali had never had an easy time of it in public when they were at uni. Some of it was their gender, and sadly some of it was to do with the colour of Cali's skin, which Jo could never understand. She wondered if that was part of the reason why Cali had left her, the fact that their relationship was always going to be a little more difficult, but she'd thought that they loved each other enough to overcome that. She was obviously wrong.

And all her thoughts about Cali were back. She knew it wasn't going to be easy but she was going to put Cali behind her no matter what.

The rest of the day was spent hanging out at CCs, Jo started to feel like she was making progress. Seeing her friends happy was contagious and she knew that she'd be able to face work on Monday, and whatever else life decided to throw at her because she had her friends and family around.

***

Another couple of weeks had passed and everything had settled into a nice routine for Jo, she'd been helping Esta and Nicola look at places and Will was starting to pack for uni, it wouldn't be long before term started for him.

She'd got used to having him around and she was going to miss him, especially since neither of her sisters had made it home for the summer, both of them were lucky enough to be working or studying abroad. And summer was a busy time for her mum, all the kids wanted to go horse riding. So she'd got used to it being just her and Will.

Jo was folding up his clothes and putting them into a suitcase as Will tried to cram all of dad's old textbooks into a plastic toy box. Hopefully it would be sturdy enough to hold them all, but they didn't have far to be carried at this end, and they could always make several trips from the car to his room in the halls of residence.

They took a break so that they could get a cup of tea and Will was scrolling through as he munched on a biscuit, when he made a hissing sound.

"What's wrong?" Jo asked, she wasn't sure that she could take any more bad news today.

"Mehri's been hit by a car while out cycling." Will shook his head as he stared at his phone.

"Friend of yours?" Jo was already planning on rushing Will to the hospital, and she was sure that dad was on shift today.

"No. Formula One driver." Will almost looked amused and Jo breathed a sigh of relief. It was still awful, but tragedy only got more painful the closer it was to home.

"Ah."

"Here." Will handed Jo his phone and she read the article, it seemed like she wasn't badly injured and when Jo saw the photo she almost did a double take. "She looks a bit like our Roberta, don't you think?"

"That's exactly what I was thinking."

*

Jo had left Will to make lunch while she trawled the internet. Cali looking a bit like a Formula One driver was a coincidence, but Roberta too? That was strange.

She found as many photos of Roberta Mehri as she could and compared them to pictures of her Roberta from over the years. The resemblance was uncanny, they could be twins, they even had their hair in the same cut, shoulder length and fabulous, the sort of hair that shampoo commercials promise but never deliver.

Jo was trying to find more video footage of Roberta Mehri, her voice was nothing like her Roberta's but even the way that she smiled was similar. She was shaking her head in confusion, unsure of what to think about it all when her phone buzzed and the screen flashed up a picture of Marcia, which was another coincidence.

Maybe this was the universe telling her that she was just being silly. Looking for connections where there were none.

"Hi." Jo was about to say 'I was just thinking of you' when she heard Marcia cry.

"Jo? Roberta's gone missing." There was the sound of sobbing and Jo just wanted to reach through the phone and hug her.

"Where are you?"

"At home." Marcia's voice was trembling and Jo felt tears welling up in her eyes, but she was going to have to be strong now. For Marcia.

"I'll be right there." Jo grabbed her trainers and her bike helmet and rushed out of the door, yelling at Will to call mum and dad and tell them what had happened.

*

Jo had pedalled as fast as she could, abandoning her bike at the front of Marcia and Roberta's place. She leapt up the stairs to their flat and when she got there the door was unlocked. Jo was worried that Marcia would be gone but when she opened the door there was the sound of voices, everyone was already here.

"What happened?" Jo saw the look of panic and fear on everyone's faces and braced herself for the worst. She held Marcia, afraid that if she let go she would just drop to the floor.

"She went to take the neighbour's dog for a walk, like she always does, but then the dog ran home alone. There's no sign of Roberta, and she's not answering her phone." Marcia had tears streaming down her face as she called Roberta's mobile over and over again.

"Does she have a normal route that she takes with the dog?" Dani asked, she always was the logical one.

"She walks up to the park before walking around to the high street, so she goes in a circle with Sophia." Marcia slumped to the floor and Jo eased her fall, unable to support her weight. "What if she's hurt or injured? What if she's alone and in pain?"

"I've called the police, they can't do anything officially for twenty-four hours but unofficially they're sending everyone who's off duty to check the park and the surrounding area," Esta said, it was one of the perks of living in such a small place, everyone knew everyone, and at times like this, it was definitely a big help.

"Dad knows what's going on so he'll call you if she gets admitted to hospital." Jo held Marcia tighter, she was hoping that it wouldn't come to that. But the options were looking less likely the more time that passed, the idea that somehow Sophia had run off and Roberta was out looking for her, and had let her phone battery run out, without coming home after two hours of not being able to find the dog were slim.

"I'm going to go look for her," Marcia said, and there were no more tears, she'd made her decision. Maybe getting out of the house, actually doing something would make her feel less helpless.

"Danielle, Dani? Would you two stay here, just in case Roberta comes back or calls?" Jo helped Marcia to her feet and she saw the pain in her eyes, the not knowing, that was the worst part.

*

They'd scoured the entire town until the sun set, but there was no sign of Roberta. The police said they'd keep an eye out for her and if she hadn't shown up by the morning they'd put in a missing persons report.

Jo had called her dad and he'd made sure that everyone in the hospital had seen Roberta's photo in case she was brought in overnight. They were under strict instructions to call him the second she was admitted, although given how long she'd been missing for, the chances of her still being in town was slim.

Marcia wished that any of that made her feel better. She knew everyone was doing their best and yet none of it was getting them any closer to finding out what had happened to Roberta. Jo helped her back to their flat and she was dreading being all alone for the night but when she opened the door the place was full of people, all worried about Roberta.

"Roberta's parents are still at their house in case she shows up there," Dani said, she seemed to be in charge, which was at odds with the quiet little librarian that everyone knew her as. Danielle was making food and drink for everyone and Nicola and Esta were huddled over a map of the town with coloured pens, marking off all the areas that had been searched already.

"I've called Monisha, let her know what's happened, she's found someone to cover your shift tonight." Jo's mum hugged Marcia, and she was so relieved to have so many people who cared for her, who would help her like this. If only that was enough to bring Roberta home, and the horrible feeling that had been festering all day took over, she was sure that something bad had happened to Roberta, because she couldn't imagine her just running off without saying a word.

Jo's mum ushered Marcia over to her parents, and they comforted their daughter while the rest of them tried to work out what could have happened.

In the small hours of the morning it was agreed that everyone should go home, get some sleep. Marcia's mum and Jo's mum agreed to stay with her, Marcia's dad was going to head home in the unlikely event that Roberta showed up there.

With all possible eventualities covered, everyone drifted off home to do the only thing that was left. Wait.

***

Jo woke the next morning after only five hours sleep, the only messages on her phone were from people saying that there was no change, Roberta still hadn't been found and the police had filed a missing persons report, but Jo was dubious as to how much that would actually help find her. She wanted to believe the tv shows that made it look easy to trace everything like credit cards and train tickets, but the reality was very different.

Marcia didn't know the log in for Roberta's online banking and they didn't have a joint account so there was no way she could access it. She tried a few of the obvious passwords but none of them worked, Roberta wasn't that dumb, and all she'd managed to do was lock the account.

Jo wished that there was something else she could do to help, and she wanted to believe that strolling around the town, checking through the rough ground and deserted buildings would help, but her mind couldn't stop nagging her about how a woman who looked almost exactly like their Roberta got injured, and now she was missing.

She scrolled through her phone to see when Wehrlein was injured, and the date tied up with the last time that she spoke to Cali. Jo had spoken to her Saturday evening, and then the crash happened early Sunday morning, and she'd never heard from Cali again. It seemed like far too much of a coincidence to be just random, but what was the link?

By early afternoon Jo was exhausted both physically and mentally and she headed to CCs to see if any of the others had found anything that might help. Danielle had to work and it was agreed that CCs was the perfect meeting place anyway so they could all just check in through the day with any new information.

Danielle made Jo a coffee and there was something soul destroying about seeing Danielle without a smile of any sort. Even her fake pout was a frowny smile, she just couldn't hide her smile, but today there was no trace of it, and that was painful to see.

"Any leads?" Danielle asked, as she handed over Jo's coffee, pouring a large amount of sugar into in for her.

Jo shook her head. "Nothing."

"Will and your dad took Sophia out for a walk, hoping that she might be able to lead them to Roberta but she just walked them on her usual route."

Nicola and Este wandered in and they both looked equally despondent.

"Any luck?"

Esta hung her head and Nicola compressed her lips, shaking her head. "It's starting to look like she was abducted by aliens."

Jo wanted to laugh but it was just too upsetting, it seemed like Roberta had just dematerialised, disappeared without a trace. She couldn't put the nagging thoughts out of her mind that this had something to do with Cali's disappearance, even though Cali's parents insisted she was fine, Jo was starting to feel like it wasn't true.

But it didn't make sense, none of it made sense. Even if Cali and Roberta looked like Formula One drivers, so what? What was the connection, what was she missing?

She wasn't going to work it out on her own, so Jo told everyone to meet at Marcia's tonight, once the sun set and there was nothing more they could do to search the woods.

Hopefully with friends around she would be able to figure this all out, or at least let her friends pick holes at her ridiculous theory, put it to rest once and for all.

*

That evening Esta brought pizza and Danielle brought coffee and cakes, Marcia didn't want to eat but they made her, she had to keep her strength up.

"What could have happened to her? Where is she?" Marcia cried on Dani's shoulder and Jo knew that she had to tell them all, because at the moment no-one seemed to have any better theories.

"I have an idea, and it's crazy, so crazy but it won't leave me alone." Jo fidgeted with her hair pulling it down over the side of her face, trying to shield herself.

"What do you know?" Marcia leapt over and clung to Jo, tears streaming down her face as she stared at her. "I just want to know what happened to her."

Jo stroked her hair until she was calm, before telling them everything, how their Roberta looked really like a Formula One driver, who was injured just before Roberta disappeared. And how the same happened with Cali, even though her parents were denying it, but Jo had a bad feeling about it.

"So what are you thinking? Twins separated at birth?" Nicola watched far too many films, but it was seeming like the sanest of all the options. "But then why would one of them disappear when the other is injured."

There was silence as everyone worked out the implications. Dani spoke first, but her words weren't a comfort. "It's like something out of a horror film, but it can't be true." She shook her head, unwilling to believe that something like this could be happening to them, in their quiet little town where nothing happened and horses getting out their field was the most exciting thing.

"What if it really was cloning? Some kind of genetic experiment gone awry?" Nicola asked, and the way she said it left Jo feeling cold.

"Why?" Jo compressed her lips, she wasn't sure that she wanted an answer.

"Because Roberta and Cali aren't the only ones with doppelgangers." Nicola held up her phone, there was a photo of her but underneath it read – Nicola Hülkenberg Formula One driver for Sahara Force India.

Dani held up her phone and it was the same, her photo but a different surname underneath. Danielle's was the same and that was when Jo felt her blood run cold.

Marcia ran to get her laptop and headed for Wikipedia, she went through the pages of all the current drivers and when they brought up pictures of the whole grid, it was startling to see so many familiar faces.

"What's Cali's surname?" Marcia asked, scrolling through the page for Pascaline Wehrlein.

"Wilson." Jo couldn't figure it out, if they were twins, why did they have the same names? But if they were clones, as far fetched as that sounded, why would you attract attention to that fact by giving them the same names? It still didn't make any sense, even with the startling facts staring them in the face.

Jo looked at the similarities, her mind reeled with the possibilities, it was uncanny:

Danielle Roberts, the smiley girl that she'd grown up with, was the spitting image of Danielle Ricciardo?

Dani King, the quiet girl who loved her books, was an exact copy of Daniela 'Dani' Kvyat?

Nicola Hughes, the food eating machine that loved computers, was identical to Nicola Hülkenberg?

Marcia Edwards, her best friend, who had taken her to the senior dance, was the duplicate of Marcia Ericsson?

Roberta Martin, the girl who loved sports, who'd made them all join the football team, was the clone of Roberta Mehri?

And finally, Cali Wilson, the love of her life, whose smile made everything better… Was she nothing but spare parts for Pascaline Wehrlein?

Jo had tears running down her face and she didn't want to believe it, but it was staring her in the face.

"The library has all the town records, and yearbooks, since it seems to be our year in school that was affected… As far as we know." Dani held out the keys for the library, she was in charge of it now, and the others all grabbed their coats.

They snuck into the library, even though they didn't have to because Dani had deactivated the alarm. Although Dani was the kind of librarian that believed in silence in her library. "Nicola, can you check through the yearbooks, see if any of the other students have doppelgangers?" Dani pointed her in the direction of them and Nicola made herself comfy at a computer, scanning the photos in and checking for any matches online.

"I'll check the planning records from when we were little. If Cali's parents are hiding something then maybe ours are too." Esta headed for the records department, she was there a lot for work and she'd be able to find everything quickly.

"What would you need to clone someone?" Dani stared at Jo. "Jo? Josephina?"

"Sorry?" Jo had only heard her name, and she knew that she should be focusing, that this could be important, could save lives, but her brain couldn't block out the horrific images.

"What do you need to clone people?"

"Erm, I'd have to look it up." Jo knew that she had an above average knowledge of all things medical, thanks to her dad, but she didn't know things like that. It was the realm of science fiction, and she was sure that she'd not seen 'cloning machine' on any of the purchase invoices, although she doubted it would be that simple.

"Medical textbooks are that way." Dani pointed before finding tasks for everyone else.

*

Danielle brought everyone coffee, and a smile, which considering the implications of their research, was an amazing gift.

"Girls? You're going to want to see this…" Nicola hollered and it echoed through the library, adding to the horror film vibe that was fast becoming their lives.

Nicola had on screen several pictures of people that if they didn't know directly, they knew of.

"Wasn't Lucy in your brother's year?" Marcia asked.

"Yeah, she was. I think they took biology together." Jo looked at the picture, she looked familiar, she'd seen her at the house once maybe, giving notes to Will after he was off sick.

"She's also a famous horse rider." Nicola flicked to another tab and there was a near identical woman on a horse.

There were several more sets of photos, all people from their town, and their more successful counterparts.

"So I could be a multimillionaire sports star instead of making coffee?" Danielle said, and Nicola let out a chuckle.

"But you wouldn't have me?" Dani fluttered her eyelashes, unintentionally, she was sure this wasn't the time to be insecure about her relationship.

"Hey, we're teammates." Danielle wiggled her eyebrows. "Who says we're not also lovers?"

"This photo, of Danielle Ricciardo and her long term boyfriend Jimmy." Nicola put up a photo. "It doesn't look likely…"

"In that case I'd rather have you." Danielle leant in to kiss Dani, and for a minute, normal service was resumed, everything felt like normal.

Until Esta came running through. "Jo, did you know that your dad owns CCs? And Replicate? And most of the small business in town?"

Jo knew that had dad liked to help the town out, but owning most of it was a very different situation. "What about the hospital? And all its research labs?"

Esta nodded, and it all made sense to Jo.

"Come with me." Jo checked her handbag to make sure that she had her pass for PalmerTech, and strode out of the library, leaving Dani to rush to lock the place up.

The walked across town, no-one was about at such an early an hour and they cut through the woods to get to the side entrance of the PalmerTech office, the one that had no security cameras. It was where the smokers came if they wanted to be sly and break the 'no smoking on the premises, not even in the car park' rule.

She entered the code for the alarm, her birthday – 2001 – and then they snuck into the building, heading for the records in the basement. Her dad had told her that they went all the way back to when she was born and before. Although they wouldn't need to go through them all, their year seemed to be the first year that the doppelgangers started appearing and the program seemed to have ended in 1997, when Will was born.

Jo clicked on the light, the fluorescent tube flickered to reveal an old hospital room, with cracked white tiles and filing cabinets lining the walls. She headed straight for the years they were interested in and picked out all of their files, along with Will's, although none of the doppelgangers appeared to be male but maybe they didn't end up in sports, maybe they were used for soldiers.

The cold metal of the filing cabinet as Jo rested her head against it brought her back to reality, shaking her out of her absurd thoughts. It didn't matter where their doppelgangers ended up, they just had to find out why.

She handed everyone their file, and she put hers flat out on the table. There was the usual assortment of vaccinations and minor injuries, as well as her accident, which everyone remembered.

But then, every year was an entry, _DX 1398_ , along with 'blood analysed' scrawled next to it. Every year until she was seven.

"Do you guys have this in your file?" Jo pointed at it and the others checked through theirs. Everyone said yes except Esta, who shook her head.

The files were placed down on the table, and it all matched up every year, along with all the usual vaccinations there was this entry. Esta held her file close to her chest and she didn't have to say a word.

Jo knew why she didn't want the others to see, although they'd all been there for her, she'd told them all about when she got her breasts, there were some questions that they'd never asked, and Esta had never talked about.

Esta showed her file to Nicola who glanced through it, before saying, "It's not there."

"It's not in Will's file either." Jo didn't need to say the rest, it seems that it was only the girls that had been part of this programme, and no-one had ever noticed.

The rest of her file had nothing useful, it was unlikely that something any nurse could see would have 'clones for spares' written on it.

There was only one person who could answer the rest of her questions, and she knew where to find him.

***

The sun was coming up as Dr Palmer walked into the living room, but the last thing he expected to see was Jo holding his shotgun.

"What have you done to Roberta and Cali? Where are they?" Jo knew that she was screaming but she just had to know the answer, no matter how awful. And she was sure that there was no happy ending waiting for them.

"Jo, sweetie, put the gun down." His voice was calm, as though he was used to his daughter pointing a gun in his face.

"I'm not stupid. I know why you own so much of the town." Jo waved the gun again and Dr Palmer flinched. "It's because everyone in the town is paid by you, to keep your clones in line so that we're ready when we're needed!"

"Jo, it's not like that."

"No! Tell me what it's like then? What happened to Roberta and Cali?" Jo was no longer screaming, the tears were silently running down her face as she stared at her father.

"Just lower the gun and we'll talk."

There was a gasp from the corner of the room and Jo saw Will standing there, he suddenly looked much younger. His skin pale from shock and he held his hands in front of him as though he was surrendering.

Jo let out a sob, she hadn't meant to scare Will, she just wanted answers. She let the shotgun rest against the floor and took her finger off the trigger, but her father didn't move.

"Long ago, I found a way to clone people, make them stronger, healthier."

"So you cloned us?" Dani's voice cut across the silent room.

"Yes. And your clones were given to people who could channel their unique talents into profitable areas."

"Like Formula One drivers?"

Jo was glad that Dani was talking because her mind was still reeling with all the information. They'd been cloned, and now her friends were being used for spare parts.

"So you think that justifies this? Because it's profitable?" Dani arched her fingers, a sign that her patience was wearing thin.

"I made sure that you girls got the money. That you got jobs, scholarships to uni, enough to buy a house and have a nice life." Dr Palmer glanced at Will, who was still standing frozen in the doorway.

Jo had thought that she'd earned her scholarship, she had excellent grades, as did Dani. And that was why they all got money for their twenty-first, it was hush money. Even if some of them wouldn't live to use it.

"So that justifies murder?" Jo kept her voice low, she wasn't sure that she could deal with the fact that her dad was a killer.

"Murder?" Dr Palmer did a good job of looking confused, so good that Jo wasn't sure what was going on. "Who's dead?"

"You killed Roberta and Cali. To, fix, their, clones." Jo practically spat each word but she was done playing games, she didn't care about the money, she just had to know why.

"Roberta's not dead, she was found in Spain. She went to see her clone… But I couldn't tell everyone, not yet, I had to make sure that she wouldn't talk first."

Marcia let out a sob, collapsing to the ground behind Jo and Esta rushed to her side, holding her tight.

"And Cali?" Jo couldn't dare believe it yet, she was still convinced that something had happened to Cali.

"She left you this." Dr Palmer placed a letter on the table, one with no stamp, Cali must have put it through the door. Jo leant over to pick it up, not letting go of the gun. It was awkward to take the letter out with one hand but she managed it in the end.

 

_Dearest Jo,_

_I'm on the trail of a story but it means that I'm going to be out of touch for a while, it's too dangerous otherwise. Please know that I love you, and I will be back in your arms as soon I can._

_Love always, Cali x_

 

She hadn't left her, she was just busy with work. "Why would you hide this from me?" Jo had spent weeks worrying that she was dead, or worse, and her dad could have spared her all that pain.

"I didn't want you to worry, and then, when you thought she'd broken up with you. It seemed like the best way, she has such a dangerous profession."

"How could you do that?" Jo had fresh tears running down her face and she knew it was minor compared to everything else that was going on but she couldn't believe her dad would do that.

"I thought it was best for you."

There was the sound of a car approaching on the gravel driveway, and Dr Palmer glanced out the window before nodding to Will.

"I think there's someone you want to see, but Jo, you need to put the gun away."

Jo nodded, it wasn't loaded but she wasn't going to tell anyone that, there was enough anger already. The girls sat down on the sofa as Roberta wandered in, Will following sheepishly.

"I'm so sorry, I saw this person who looked like my twin and I just had to see them, see what was going on. I didn't mean to scare you all, I was just so confused."

Marcia held her tight, kissing her all over and whispering that it was all okay, over and over again until she was calmer.

"Do I have a clone?" Will asked, Jo jumped, she'd forgotten he was here and Dr Palmer shook his head.

"It only worked with the girls. The Y chromosome just isn't sturdy enough."

"So we're the originals?" Jo asked, and her dad took a deep breath.

"The other girls are all originals, but Jo, sweetie, after your accident… You were so badly injured and I couldn't bear to let you go, so, I cloned you." Dr Palmer fidgeted in his seat, tears in his eyes and he was unable to look Jo in the eye. "I'm sorry sweetie."

"So I'm not me?" Jo was shaking now and she ran her hand over her scar from the drill, and from her quad bike accident.

"You are you. You're the same you that you were before."

"Thank you, for saving me." Jo crumpled into a heap, sobbing as she tried to make sense of it all but her brain was too tired and she felt like she needed to sleep for a week.

Will sat next to her, his arm slung around her as she cried it all out and when she was all done she felt like a weight had been lifted.

"I'm going to tell everyone that Roberta was taken to a nearby hospital, I have a friend who can sort that." Dr Palmer looked at them all. "You can't ever tell anyone what happened, they'll round you all up and I won't be able to stop them. It just has to be a funny coincidence that there's so many lookalikes in this town."

***

Roberta was taken home, after a day spent in the local hospital after she was 'transferred' from the city hospital. Life went back to normal and the town was just so grateful to have Roberta back safe that no-one asked too many questions.

Nicola and Esta found a place together, and Danielle took up Dr Palmer's offer of a distance learning degree in management, so that she could take over the running of CCs one day.

One morning, as Jo was munching on her toast, her dad left her a copy of _The Reporter_ on the table and she saw the headline.

Sex Trafficking Ring Exposed

Jo read the entire article, and even though others must have edited it she would have recognised the writing style anywhere.

_By Cali Wilson_

She smiled, even though it had only been a couple of months, she had been waiting for the day that Cali walked back into her life. As she was getting ready for work she thought about calling Cali, but she wasn't sure if she would still be busy with her story.

Jo was on the verge of being late for work as it was, so it would have to wait, and just as she grabbed her bag there was a knock on the door.

Her heart raced and she tried to tell herself that it might not be her, but it didn't stop Jo rushing to answer it, taking a deep breath before flinging the door open to reveal the smile that made everything better.

She hugged Cali so tight that she squeaked and she stared into her eyes before letting their lips meet, the sparks flying through her body as tears ran down her face.

"Did you miss me?" Cali asked, wiping away her tears with her thumb.

Jo nodded, she couldn't find the words. Cali had no idea that she didn't get the letter until after she thought that Cali had broken up with her. But she couldn't explain it without revealing everything else.

"I'm going to call in sick." Jo smiled and gave Cali another kiss before texting her dad to say she didn't feel well, although the rouse would be up when he got home tonight and Cali was here, but she was sure that he wouldn't mind.

Cali told her everything about her story, and Jo had never been more proud, she was in awe of her amazing girlfriend.

"How have things been for you?" Cali asked, tracing little kisses over Jo's face as they lay in bed together.

"Just work and hanging out with friends. Nothing much ever happens here."

**Author's Note:**

> *and obviously none of this actually happened, it is all a figment of my twisted imagination ;)


End file.
